How Substance Abuse Affects Your Psychological and Mental Health

When it comes to addiction, it is more than often intertwined with various mental health issues. Having this said, the psychological distress which is linked to substance and drug abuse may vary from serious to mild. Depending on the severity a person is suffering from, the distress mostly has a negative effect on the life of a substance abuser.

Is the mental health issue triggered due to substance abuse? Once established, the patient needs medical help and needs to be enrolled in substance abuse treatment programs which can deal with these issues. This is important because if the symptoms remain untreated, the user may not be able to sober up or clean their lifestyle. Eventually, they might not have a stable mental health.

So how does substance abuse affect your mental health:

Depression

Science has proven a clear link between depression and substance abuse, alongside any sort of mood disorder. While many people use drugs and substances to liberate themselves, the long-term effect may be suffering from depression. At the same time, one may have started abusing substances because of their preexisting depression, or they might have not had depression at a higher intensity but the substances triggered the symptoms.

While many people opt for drugs as a source of self-medication to deal with depression, it needs to be understood that symptoms are alleviated when a particular individual is in a high state of mind. Once in the withdrawal phase or when the effect wears off, depression symptoms are likely to increase. A lot of drugs come with withdrawal syndrome, which induces mood disturbances such as depression, leading to complicated recovery periods.

Anxiety

Panic disorders and anxiety are another association when it comes to substance abuse. Now, as said earlier, to determine the cause of anxiety may vary among individuals. For instance, a particular individual may experience wanting to abuse substances after using specific drugs such as Xanax (benzodiazepines) in order to deal with the symptoms they are suffering from.

On the other hand, another person could have a longer experience with drug abuse and then eventually have anxiety. Various substances, such as the stimulants like cocaine, can trigger anxiety in someone who’s dependent on their regular doses. As said earlier, withdrawal symptoms can be pretty tricky. Someone who uses benzodiazepines can experience anxiety when the effect of the drug wears off.

Paranoia

Drugs such as marijuana and cocaine can lead to one feeling paranoid and the feeling may likely increase in the long run if abuse does not stop. Additionally, individuals who struggle with any sort of addiction often have to lie and hide their substance usage, because they are afraid that they might get caught. Emotionally, this is another reason why they may feel paranoid – the fear of doing someone illegal will mount their feelings and get more paranoid.

Let’s talk about the drugs that can lead to mental health issues when abused:

i. Steroids (performance and appearance enhancing)

ii Prescription drugs

iii. PCP

iv. Methamphetamine

v. MDMA

vi. Marijuana

vii. Kratom

viii. LSD

ix. Inhalants

x. Cocaine

Chronic use of various drugs lead to long-term and short-term damages in the brain. These issues, eventually, lead to multiple mental health issues such as hallucinations, aggression, anxiety, depression, and paranoia which take a huge toll on your mental and physical health.

These illnesses can make your life miserable and at times, it might feel like there’s no way out of this labyrinth you got yourself into. But don’t give up - and this goes for the person seeking treatment and their families. The way to fight these is through proper treatment, support, and perseverance.